King visits Saudi Arabia’s central region, the first stopover in a domestic tour across the Kingdom

QASSIM, Saudi Arabia, Nov 7 – Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz on Wednesday kicked off a visit to the central region of Qassim with the inauguration and launch of 601 development projects worth more than SAR 16 billion. Qassim was the first stop in a tour of many regions around the Kingdom.

During his visit to Qassim, King Salman marked the completion of 402 projects across 12 government sectors, with a value of SAR 12.15 billion. He also laid the foundations for 199 new or planned projects across five government sectors in Qassim, with a total value of SAR 4.2 billion.

All of the projects are aimed at benefiting a broad range of sectors, including transport, education, roads, environment, water and electricity, public services, housing, and other infrastructure and economic projects within the government sector. These projects will play a significant role in boosting development in the Qassim region.

On his cross-country tour, the King is expected to launch many projects and initiatives, while he will monitor the living conditions of Saudi citizens and acquainting himself with their needs, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

At Qassim airport, the King was received late on Tuesday by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Prince Faisal bin Meshaal bin Saud bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Qassim region.

King Salman’s visit to Qassim follows a long list of royal visits to the region that lies about 400km northwest of the capital, Riyadh. Similar visits were undertaken by King Abdulaziz in 1326 Hijri (1908); and his sons King Saud in 1373H (1954), King Faisal in 1393H (1973), King Khaled 1401H (1981), King Fahd in 1408 H (1988) and King Abdullah in 1427 H (2006).

King Salman is being accompanied by Minister of State and Member of the Cabinet, Dr. Ibrahim bin Abdulaziz Al-Assaf; Minister of Commerce and Investment, Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qassabi; Minister of Media, Dr. Awwad Alawwad; and other senior officials, including those from the Royal Court.

Details of new projects in Qassim

One of the projects for the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs/Qassim Municipalities was budgeted at more than SAR 4.57 billion.

The Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture/Directorate of Water Services had projects either inaugurated or launched with a total budget of more than SAR 1.65 billion.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources/Qassim Electricity Department received more than SAR 4.5 billion for projects either inaugurated or launched, with the total for the Ministry rising to SAR 4.7 billion with the addition of some projects for Ministry’s Saudi Authority for Industrial Cities and Technology Zones (Modon). Ministry of Education projects stood at more than SAR 3.8 billion, the vast majority of which went to Qassim University.

The Ministry of Transportation’s Qassim branch has been funded for over SAR 1 billion in projects.